Tuesday, November 13, 2012

Talbuc's Take - Week 11

I don’t have time to do a Talbuc’s Take every week, but here
are some random thoughts after Week 10.

1) Wow! How huge is
that Ben Roethlisberger injury? This
sloppy game aside, Pittsburgh
was looking like one of the best teams in football prior to him going down on
MNF, but my how things have changed.
With Byron “holy hell he’s awful” Leftwich under center for the second
half, the Steelers best offensive weapon was Lawrence Timmons. Wow, they’ve got absolutely NOTHING to go
with if Roethlisberger is out. Mike
Wallace can’t get deep quick enough, Antonio Brown is hurt, and defenses will
stack 15 in the box against the run game.
They won and remained within one game of the Ravens, but here’s the bad
news – they get those Ravens in two of the next three weeks, including this
coming Sunday night in Pittsburgh. How huge would it be for the Ravens to get
both of their games against the Steelers with pork chop Leftwich taking the ball
from center? Just looking at the
situation, you’ve got to think this is a pretty significant injury. Roethlisberger is one of the toughest players
in the league, and he immediately headed for the locker room. Hell, he was at the hospital when the game
finished. Wow wow wow.

2) The Cowboys need Tony Romo more than Tony Romo needs the
Cowboys. Yes, he makes his share of
mistakes, but if you really look at things, it’s not like he has a ton of
weapons. Dez Bryant is still
situationally clueless, Miles Austin hasn’t been a big play guy, and DeMarco
Murray is hurt. All he has is
shufflefoot Jason Witten. Jerry Jones
and Cowboys fans need to look around the league before they go and discard the
former Pro Bowler. Once you get past
Rodgers, Brees, Roethlisberger, Brady, and the Mannings, there aren’t 10, let
alone 26 passers better than Romo. If Dallas doesn’t lock Romo
up to a long term deal before next season they’re fools.

3) I realize the suits think we have to talk about the Jets
endlessly because they’re a New York
team, but these guys are rivaling the Jaguars for having the least talented
roster in football. Seriously, how many
of these guys would you want to start a team with? Not counting Darrelle Revis, who is on IR,
are there even five players worth wanting?
Mangold, Ferguson,
Coples, and Wilkerson are the four I came up with. Maybe David Harris or Stephen Hill. That’s a bad team that needs to start
completely over. That said, I’m not for
tossing Rex Ryan. I’m pointing a finger
at GM Mike Tannenbaum. Let’s get some
talent in here guy! If things keep
trending downward they may be in line to draft Geno Smith or Matt Barkley. The QB position gets the most attention, but
they need help all over the depth chart.

4) How about those Bucs!
I don’t want to tempt fate by drawing too much attention to these guys,
but the team that Vegas slapped with a projected six win season is sitting
quietly in second place with a 5-4 record.
No, it’s not the most difficult schedule in football, but they’ve yet to
lose a game by more than seven points.
Their pass defense is as bad as expected, but they’re shutting the run
down better than any other team in football.
Josh Freeman looks well in control of Mike Sullivan’s offense, and Doug
Martin is making plays with the ball in his hands. They’re a TEAM. I love stressing that word. They don’t have the most talent in the game,
but they really look like one focused and functioning machine out there. I don’t know if they’ll be able to stay in
the playoff hunt through December, but I’m loving what I’m seeing. The future looks good in TampaBay.

5) Don’t sleep on the Saints. As bad as their season started (4 straight
losses, including Washington and KC at home) they’re coming off a win over the
previously unbeaten Falcons and are the most dangerous 4-5 team in the
game. Who wants to play these guys
now? Of their seven remaining games,
there’s not one that looks like an absolute loss at this point. I want to see how they do during the late
November early December stretch v. SF, @ATL, and @NYG, but the Saints certainly
have my attention.

Several quick thoughts –

At best, New England is the
fourth best team in the AFC. I think Houston, Pittsburgh (with
Ben), and Denver
would beat them more often than not, and the biggest reason is defense. Their defenses shut teams down while the
Patriots’ defense hopes to hold the opposition to 24. Throw Baltimore
in their too, even with their defensive questions. Something just doesn’t smell right about this
Patriots team; good not great.

Hate Jay Cutler all you want, but this team isn’t going
anywhere without him. Their defense
can’t score 21 points every game, and Brandon Marshall isn’t the same receiver
with Jason Campbell throwing him the football.
Chicago
better hope Cutler’s concussion is of the minor variety.

Why do we still allow for ties in the NFL in the year
2012? Seriously, we can’t find some way
to make sure the game ends with a winner and a loser? Why do we need an overtime clock? Just keep playing until someone scores. I don’t want to hear about players getting tired
and/or injured. These are million dollar
athletes playing a game that generates billions. Finish the damn thing.

Also, during that SF/STL game, was I the only one yelling
“CALL TIME OUT!!!” at the tv when the Rams were shifting into their second fake
punt of the game late in the fourth?
Several seconds before the snap it was apparent that the Rams were going
to once again run a fake punt, and the Niners had timeouts at their disposal. How do you stop it? Call time out before they can run the
play! I realize it takes a bit of quick
thinking, but with 11 players on the field and a host of coaches on the
sidelines, how does St. Louis
get that snap off? If I can think to do
it, why can’t Jim Harbaugh?

Of the remaining, I think the most likely hoister of the
Lombardi will come from this six– Houston, Denver, Atlanta, Chicago, and yes,
Green Bay. The Giants, Niners, and
Patriots have work to do, and the Steelers better hope Roethlisberger isn’t
shelved for long. Baltimore is looking really sneaky at this point. If they can capitalize on this Roethlisberger injury, get on a bit of a role, and establish a defensive presence for a postseason run, look out!